Is DHGate Legit and Safe? Tips On How Not To get Scammed
Is DHGate Legit and Safe? DHGate can be a hit or miss. I have been using DHGate for about year now (even though I have known about this website for much longer), and during that year I have learned a lot (and got burned/scammed a bit too). And while I don’t shop on DHGate as much as I used to, I have learned some ways to protect me and how not to get scammed on DHGate.
I want to share these tips with you so that you can avoid getting scammed on DHGate since I have long learned my lesson now!
If you don’t know what DHGate is, and you want to shop for the best quality items only, check out my other blog post on how you can shop smartly on DHGate.
This post will be in addition to the above with more over-arching tips – so not necessarily a guide for finding high quality items, but shopping on DHGate in general.
Purchase one item at a time per seller
Here’s a scam that I fell for a few times and have learned my lesson on. When you’re shopping and come across an item you really like and want to purchase, you’ll be shown other items from this same seller. You may be inclined to purchase from this seller in bulk, putting many items into your cart and hitting checkout all at once.
What can go wrong here? Well unfortunately, if you purchase, lets say 3 items from a seller, and you checkout and purchase them all together, that means that you’re expecting to get all 3 items delivered to you in one package.
Now where the scam occurs is when the seller ships fewer than the items you purchased from them. Now you’re going to have to deal with an uphill battle with DHGate’s disputes and resolutions team which could take weeks or even months. And you may not even be guaranteed your money back!
It is better to purchase items individually from the same seller (ie. 3 items, make 3 separate checkout purchases). If you’ have several items in your cart but all from different sellers, then this won’t apply. But take caution when lumping items into one purchase. There is very little benefit from combining purchases, and honestly those minor $X amount off a $Y purchase are just not worth the hassle you may have to deal with later on should you get scammed by a seller.
Make sure the reviews match the product
It’s crazy how common this is on DHGate. Essentially what is happening here is you’ve got a product that is, lets say a hat, but the reviews are people describing a bag or a shirt. This doesn’t add up here.
My hunch is that at one point that listing was in fact what the reviews were describing, but then the seller decided to change the title, description and photos of the item to something else. This way the review would stay with the product link and it’ll get more exposure since it has high reviews. Buyers will look at this and think what they’re buying is actually depicted in the photo because it has such good reviews.
Make sure to read the reviews (if there are any) on that product. And make sure those reviews (and attached photos) match and make sense with what that product actually is.
Turn Off Order Transfer Service
Personally, I think this is such an awful feature to have. I really don’t see any benefit to using this but unfortunately DHGate turns this on for you by default. Please make sure to turn it off after you make a purchase.
Essentially what this feature is, is that if the item you purchased wasn’t fulfilled and shipped out in time by that seller, then DHGate puts your order out there for other sellers to bid on and fulfill on that original seller’s behalf. Lots can go wrong here. An obvious one is that the backup seller fulfilling it by sending something of much lower quality or something completely different altogether.
If you want to read more about this feature, check out my post on DHGate’s order transfer service.
If it’s too good to be true, it probably is
If you’re looking for a specific item such as a designer inspired item that states it is high quality, mirror quality or even mentions something like “10A high quality”, but the price is incredibly cheap for what you think you would be getting, chances are it probably is!
This is one of the most common scams on DHGate. Unless you do not chare about the quality and durability of a product, then what you’re seeing depicted in the photos of that product will not compare to the price you’re paying for it.
There are so many funny (and infuriating to the buyer) stories on this, check out some of these reddit stories:
Ordering a $200 Special Quality knife on DHGate gone wrong
Hilarious Designer inspired purchase swapped on DHGate using Order Transfer Service
Contact the Seller and Ask Questions
You may be super eager and excited to press that “BUY NOW” button, but hold on! Before you do, make sure to reach out to the seller and ask some questions.
The problem with a lot of DHGate merchandise is that it either A) may be out of stock but still listed for sale or B) details and logos blurred out or simply not on the merchandise you thought would otherwise be there.
It is important to ask the seller to confirm such things so that you do not waste your time having to wait for the seller to cancel the sale or having to get your money back in the event the seller fraudulently sends you something similar or bait-and-switches on you (this happens a lot when something is actually out of stock but you can still purchase it – the seller just fails to remove the listing).
Some questions to ask are:
- Is this item still in stock?
- Do you have more photos of this product?
- Can you show me photos of [insert specific area of product] in more detail?
If the seller responds, then you know that the seller is attentive and will likely be honest with their listings. Any sellers that do no respond, I would recommend avoiding purchasing from them. Some sellers even tell you that an item is out of stock before you purchase it. They may just have a lot of different products and not yet removed the ones that are no longer in stock.
All in all, DHGate can be a fun online marketplace to shop at if you know what you’re doing and what you’re looking for. Hopefully these tips will help you not to get scammed on DHGate. Happy shopping!
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